Oh, I don’t disagree with any of this.
The NPR radio reporter in China has great access. She also has the courage, I suppose, to cover stories that NBC probably will not.
Will she get the kind of numbers that NBC will get? Not even a fraction of a fraction. But she does not need to generate nearly as much revenue as NBC does to make it worth her while.
Its a new economy to match the new technology. Stand by while it shakes out, but I think y0u’ll be surprised at who survives and who does not.

– did the NPR reporter didn’t attend a video workshop? She has great access – that’s my point.

The Rosenblum mantra is “any idiot can do this”.

and in terms of the tech skills that is sound. But that is hardly a revelation – no-one really thinks Capa was a great photographer because he knew a lot about cameras. The world of professional video production is becoming more competitive not less.

The big $$$ in film/video have never gone to the techies – and I doubt that is going to change with the tech threshold is sinking so fast.

“any idiot can do this, as long as they have courage, creativity, good interpersonal skills, a good eye, great storytelling skills and unrivalled access” would be my mantra.

I also agree on the last part. Any idiot can do this. It does not mean that every idiot is going to be great, but now at least anyone is free to try. What is the formula for success – like anything else, talent, access and then really hard work. inspiration plus persperation, as Thomas Edison says. Now, at least, the barrier to trying is down. Many will try – most will fail. That’s OK. That’s how writing or art or music have always been. Now we add the video.

In so far as the NPR reporter, she did not attend a workshop. I certainly think I could make her stuff better. I will try by long distance. But she has 20 years of journalistic experience and access. She’s off to a very good start.

Wikipedia: “Idiot” was originally created to refer to “layman, person lacking professional skill”, “person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning”.
This sounds a bit contradictory.

Techies or not, I keep noticing blown out audio. It hurts my ears and speakers. Please stop the insanity!

Its a new economy to match the new technology. Stand by while it shakes out, but I think y0u’ll be surprised at who survives and who does not.

That’s the part that detractors keep pointing to – this hasn’t established a business model that is making money – not yet. As with anything new – it’s very much like a toddler learning to walk – it falls down gets back up – tries it again until the toddler gets it right.

That will happen with finding an effective revenue generating business model.

No. VJ quality is still THE issue. Just saying it isn’t won’t change that.
Quality is less of an issue if you do features… story’s that have a lot of time to deal with the limitations of VJ and fix the inherent problems with VJ quality.

In day turn around VJ is too slow and too ugly… I know that’s a generalization but if you give it to the masses then you will be judged by what the majority do with it… and generally they suck.

Stephen – I can see your point – something to chew on this weekend. Thanks for your perspective – at least for me, that is another bulleted item on my list to work towards.🙂

On a side note – Someone whom I respect greatly in post production, has said that it’s not necessarily the skill of editing but the tool and workflow when under tight deadline that determines quality and efficiency. He has all the tools at his disposal and he stated in confidence during an editing session with a trained FCP editor that

I kicked his ass as he worked in FCP. I output a file via the Convergent Design SD Connect and my laptop before he was even close to being finished. We had the same graphics packages, same XDCAM source. It’s not skill, it’s the tool and workflow.

Just asking here – could it be that the tools being used in post are getting in the way of solo vj’s quality as you stated (at least in post production)? Spot seems to think so. He’s training Associated Press VJ’s who are using Vegas Pro exclusively for their post work.